Lord Pearson of Rannoch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Pearson of Rannoch on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the percentage of child refugees to the UK from Syria and elsewhere who are from Muslim families, and whether the families of such refugees will be able to follow them in due course.

Lord Bates

The Home Office does not record the religion of those granted refugee status or humanitarian protection for statistical purposes.

There is no provision in the Immigration Rules for children granted refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK to sponsor family members to join them. The policy is designed to avoid creating incentives for children to be encouraged, or even forced, to leave their country and risk hazardous journeys to the UK, which would play right into the hands of people smugglers and traffickers.

Where a family reunion application fails under the Immigration Rules, there is provision in the policy to consider whether there are exceptional circumstances or compassionate reasons to justify granting a visa outside the Rules in individual cases.